Updates, advisories and surprises

(4:33 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hartford Financial Services
HIG, +1.15%
said late Monday that fourth-quarter net income came in at $557 million, or $1.19 a share, compared to a net loss of $806 million, or $2.71 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Core earnings, which exclude net realized investment gains and losses, were $689 million, or $1.51 a share, in the latest period. Hartford said last month that fourth-quarter core earnings would likely be $1.45 to $1.60 a share. Hartford said it sees 2010 core earnings coming in at $3.70 to $4 a share.

Lincoln reports quarterly net income of $102 mln

(4:19 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Lincoln Financial Group
LNC, -0.51%
said late Monday that fourth-quarter net income came in at $102 million, or 27 cents a share. That compares to a net loss of $506 million, or $1.98 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Operating income, which excludes net realized investment gains and losses, was $297 million, or 90 cents a share, in the latest period, the life insurance and annuity company said. Lincoln was expected to make 83 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 19 analysts in a Thomson Reuters survey.

ADC swings to first-quarter profit

(4:14 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- ADC
ADCT
late Monday reported it swung to a net income of $3.6 million, or 4 cents a share, in the first quarter from a loss of $48.4 million, or 46 cents a share, in the same quarter a year-earlier. On an adjusted basis, ADC earned 2 cents a share in the latest quarter. Revenue slid to $265.5 million from $299.7 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $267.4 million.

Electronic Arts reduces loss in third quarter

(4:11 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Electronic Arts Inc. reduced its net loss in the third fiscal quarter despite lower game sales. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, EA
ERTS
reported a net loss of $82 million, or 25 cents a share, compared to a loss of $641 million, or $2 a share, for the same period the previous year. The results were largely in-line with a pre-announcement issued by the company last month. Earnings on a non-GAAP basis came to $109 million, or 33 cents a share. Revenue declined 25% to $1.24 billion. On a non-GAAP basis, the company said net revenue for the period was $1.35 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of 31 cents a share on net revenue of $1.34 billion, according to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters.

Principal reports $141.9 mln quarterly net profit

(4:11 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Principal Financial Group
PFG, -0.92%
said late Monday that fourth-quarter net income came in at $141.9 million, or 44 cents a share. A year earlier the 401k specialist reported a net loss of $7.5 million, or 3 cents a share. Operating profit, which excludes net realized investment gains and losses, was $200.9 million, or 62 cents a share, in the latest period, Principal said. The company was expected to make 65 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 17 analysts in a Thomson Reuters survey. "We've seen substantial recovery in asset valuations, but with consumer confidence still fragile, the economic recovery remains tenuous," Chief Financial Officer Terry Lillis said. "Businesses and institutional investors continue to proceed with caution, which has impacted sales and net cash flows."

Unibail-Rodamco's loss widens to $2 billion

(12:04 PM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Unibail-Rodamco(FR:UL), Europe's largest listed property company, said after the Paris close that its annual loss widened to 1.47 billion euros ($2 billion) from 1.12 billion euros, as the company took a 2.3 billion euro hit on fair value adjustments and disposals due to the decrease in real estate and financial instrument values. Its net asset value per share fell 15% to 128.20 euros -- the firm said most of the change occured in the first half -- and the group said it will increase its dividend by 7% to 8 euros. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a 768 million euro loss, a 134.98 euro NAV and a 8.04 euros a share payout.

(7:48 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Lorillard Inc.
LO
said Monday its fourth-quarter net income fell to $242 million, or $1.52 a share, from $258 million, or $1.53 a share, in the year-ago period. The impact of the reduction in the average number of shares outstanding increased earnings per share by 9 cents a share in the latest period. Net sales rose to $1.38 billion from $1.09 billion, partly as a result of an additional $270 million from higher federal excise taxes. Revenue excluding excise taxes rose to $932 million from $912 million. Wall Street analysts expected earnings of $1.51 a share and revenue of $835 million, according to a survey by FactSet Research. Based on Lorillard's retail shipment data, Newport continued to increase its domestic retail market share during the fourth quarter by 0.46 share points to 10.32% from 9.86% in the fourth quarter.

NASDAQ-OMX profit rises

(7:23 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- NASDAQ-OMX
NDAQ, +1.25%
said on Monday that its fourth quarter net income rose to $43 million, or 20 cents a share from $35 million, or 17 cents a share a year ago. Revenues at NASDAQ dropped to $686 million from $901 million. On a non-GAAP basis, the company said it earned 46 cents a share for the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with non-GAAP earnings per common share of 52 cents a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had expected the company to earn 44 cents a share in the fourth quarter.

Fed to lay out interest rate hike plan this week

(7:18 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to lay out a plan for raising interest rates as the economy picks up steam in the next several months, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The initial focus by the U.S. central bank will be the relatively new interest rate on excess reserves, a tool given to the Fed by Congress in 2008. The interest rate on excess reserves amounts to payments the Fed pays to banks on money left on reserve with it. Currently that rate is 0.25%. The Fed isn't expected to raise any rates for several months.

CVS Caremark net income climbs 11%

(7:10 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- CVS Caremark Corp.
CVS, +2.59%
said Monday its fourth-quarter net income climbed to $1.05 billion, or 74 cents a share, from $949 million, or 65 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings in the latest period totaled 79 cents a share, including a tax benefit of a penny a share. Net revenue for the fourth quarter increased by $1.7 billion to $25.8 billion. Wall Street analysts expected the pharmacy giant to earn 77 cents a share on revenue of $26.3 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research.

Hasbro profit climbs 77% and tops estimates

(6:39 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Toy maker Hasbro
HAS, -0.83%
said its fourth-quarter profit climbed 77% to $165.6 million, or $1.09 a share, as revenue rose to $1.38 billion from $1.23 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had estimates earnings of 81 cents a share. It expects to grow revenue and earnings per share for 2010, including the dilution from television investments and absent a deterioration in consumer spending, global economic conditions or the value of foreign currencies.

CNA Financial swings to 4th-quarter profit

(6:34 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- CNA Financial Corp.,
CNA, +0.64%
the Chicago insurer, swung to a fourth-quarter profit from a loss a year earlier, reflecting a continued "very strong" specialty segment within its core property-casualty operations and a continued recovery in its investment portfolio. CNA reported net income of $246 million, or 81 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $336 million, or $1.31, in the year-earlier quarter. CNA reported net operating profit of $197 million compared with a $21 million loss, and net realized investment gains of $49 million compared with a loss of $314 million a year earlier.

(6:13 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Holding company Loews Corp.
L, +0.92%
said it returned to profitability in the fourth quarter with the group benefiting from the investment returns of CNA Financial
CNA, +0.64%
Loews reported a profit of $403 million, or 94 cents a share, after losing $958 million in the prior-year period. The prior-year period included a $440 million non-cash impairment charge related to the carrying value of HighMount Exploration & Production LLC's natural gas and oil properties. Its book value per common share increased to $39.76 at the end of the year as compared to $30.18. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 95 cents a share.

LSE average daily value traded climbs 14%

(5:22 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The London Stock Exchange(UK:LSE)said Monday that the average daily value traded across the group's equity market in January rose 14% to 7.1 billion pounds ($11 billion) as strong growth in Italy offset a small decline in London. The average daily number of trades across the group fell 6% to 831,892. The LSE said the average daily value traded in London fell 3% to 4.2 billion pounds, while the daily value traded in Milan rose 46% to 2.5 billion euros ($3.4 billion). The average daily number of contracts traded on the group's derivatives markets was up 16% at 417,686.

Anglo Platinum to raise $1.6 billion

(2:50 AM ET) LONDON (Marketwatch) -- Anglo Platinum said Monday that it will issue around $1.6 billion of new shares in a rights offer that will be used to repay long-term debt. The announcement came as the group reported a 95% drop in headline earnings for 2009 to 710 million rand ($91.6 million driven by lower metal prices. Anglo Platinum, which is listed in Johannesburg and majority owned by Anglo American(UK:AAL)said net debt had risen to 19.26 billion rand from 13.46 billin rand. Anglo American said it will report underlying earnings of $44 million in respect of platinum and that it will subscribe to its full entitlement of new shares under the rights offer.

Air France-KLM traffic down 1.6%

(2:23 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Air France-KLM(FR:AF)said Monday that bad weather and two strikes by French air traffic controllers contributed to a 1.6% drop in traffic in January. Capacity during the month was reduced by 3.4%, leading to a 1.4 percentage point improvement in load factor to 78%. Load factor is a measure of passengers against available seats.

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